What can televangelists and new atheists have in common? Apart from the hyperbole and the cheap shots and the infuriating sense of certainty, that is... For me, they are also too often united in encouraging an unthinking dismissiveness of the Bible.

I'm sure you can picture what I mean: the sharp-suited preacher who slams home point after point about 'what God wants for your life', waving a Bible around for added rhetorical drama, without actually referring to its contents once. Or the sceptical polemicist (or keyboard warrior, perhaps) who reels out lazy clichés like 'what sort of idiot would pay attention to the scribblings of bronze age goatherders (lol amirite guize)?!' Both focus on soundbites that are designed to avoid, rather than encourage, engagement with the text.

Huffington Post | Ben Whitnall  read more at www.huffingtonpost.co.uk